Samson
In Equatorial Encounter, Grigg's gang used a "Samson" to haul produce from a jungle airtrip to Bouflé in the French Ivory Coast from where it was shipped by rail to Port Bouet for export. The only clues we have about what kind of aircraft the "Samson" was lie in the interchange between Biggles and Bertie when they first spot it. Biggles did not immediately identify it, and sought Bertie's opinion, implying that it was not a familiar type. Bertie said it looked like a "Samson" which the Americans were mass producing at the end of the war for freight hauling. Why did Johns not simply use a Douglas DC-3 Dakota like he did in so many other stories? Perhaps he wanted to emphasise the cargo carrying aspect of the aircraft. The DC-3 only had a modest payload of about 6,000 lbs and there was a lot of produce to carry. Thus the only aircraft which would fit the description would be the Fairchild C-82 Packet. Designed during World War 2 as a replacement the DC-3, it was close to how Bertie described it. The Packet was one of the first aircraft to be developed with hauling freight in mind. It had a tricycle undercarriage and a high-set twin boom tail with clamshell rear loading door and ramp. This allowed trucks to drive up directly behind the aircraft to transfer their loads into the fuselage. The configuration also allowed small vehicles to drive directly into the hold. As Bertie described, the Packet only came out near the end of the war. It first flew in 1944 and deliveries only began in June 1945, too late to see widespread use in combat. However a few did see sterling service during the Berlin Airlift where they were used to deliver heavy equipment which could not fit into other aircraft. The success of the DC-3 prevented the C-82 from achieving the scale of mass production of its predecessor. Only 223 were built. Inherent design shortcomings also meant that the type was soon replaced by a reworked and improved successor, the C-119 Flying Boxcar. The U.S. Air Force retired the C-82 in 1954. Numbers were then picked up by civilian operators for hauling cargo. This would be about the correct timeframe for the events in Equatorial Encounter. The C-82 had a payload capacity of 18,000 lbs. That of Biggles' Vickers Wellington was similar to the DC-3 and approximately 4,500 to 6,000 lbs. When Biggles offered to carry Anderson's produce to London, we suppose he could only lift a fraction of it! In derivative works *''Slutspel I Kalahari'' - Algy is piloting what looks like a C-82 with a load of passengers and freight when he is captured by a Messerschmitt Me 109 over the Kalahari. *''De valschermspringers (Vandersteen comic)'' - the International Air Police, based in Hong Kong, used a C-82 Packet to train its paratrooper force. Specifications of the C-82 Packet *Crew: three *Capacity: 42 troops or 34 stretchers or cargo up to 18,000 lbs *Length: 77 ft 1 in (23.50 m) *Wingspan: 106 ft 5½ in (32.46 m) *Height: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m) *Empty weight: 32,500 lb (14,773 kg) *Max. takeoff weight: 54,000 lb (24,545 kg) *Engines: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-85 radials, 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) each *Maximum speed: 248 mph (216 knots, 399 km/h) at 17,500 ft (5,300 m) *Cruise speed: 218 mph (190 knots, 351 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m) *Range: 3,875 mi (3,370 nmi, 6,239 km) *Service ceiling: 21,200 ft (6,460 m) Category:Aircraft Category:Fictional aircraft Category:Aircraft (canonical works)